The next target group will be pensioners

[PaulT]

They might not now, but they were up the chimneys at 9 - sure when I was a teenager that some started work at 15 if not certainly 16.

[Chancer]

I started at 15, did not get any NIC contributions paid for me though until I started my apprenticeship at 16.

I was running 2 businesses, at the age of 11 well one and a half really I was sort of employed but not, no IR35 to worry about in those days, I used the money I collected from that one as operating capital for the other business, not that I knew then that you were supposed to go to business school and get an MBA to learn things like that! When I did do exactly that in my 30's most of it was a real dissapointment, we had some real top notch academic lecturers and I wanted to shout at them, but an 11 year old knows that!!!!

 

I have 26 years of contributions, should be more thanks to bad advice from my accountant, 26/40 wasnt much, the change to 26/30 pleased me but I was looking for the catch, now its 26/35 and my retirement age is currently 68, to balance the books I should not collect any pension before the age of 80 and then it should be 26/50ths, and that was just because of the demographic crisis, any post EU recession will make things worse.

Frommy early 20's I have never counted on getting my pension, back then it was more likely that I would die young,  now its simple economics, the type an 11 year old could work out [:P]

[YCCMB]

Hoping that I'm not seeing chips appearing on too many shoulders.....

Jeez, what jaundiced ideas some seem to have about the younger generation. Again, apparently the old are above criticism, but the young? All in debt up to their eyeballs, awash with designer clothes and electronic gadgets....turning their noses up at secondhand stuff...you baulk at sweeping criticism of the old, but when it comes to dishing it out, that's a whole different ball game.

Do any of you actually know anyone under 30?

[Rabbie]

The minimum school leaving age was raised to 16 in 1972.

[Chancer]

I left at 15 in 1974 to work as a mechanic, well when I say left, I just stopped going to school, nobody noticed [:-))]

 

The teachers were all off their trolleys on dope.

 

I went in for my O level exams, those that I remembered that is [:(]

 

To say I was lacking in parental guidance then is an understatement!

[suein56]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]Do any of you actually know anyone under 30?[/quote]

Yes, quite a few and what has been said on here is not far from my experience. Your experience might well be different.

Those I know have good jobs in that they are very well paid though they are often not jobs with much expectation of promotion or improvement. The lads are keen on cars and all that goes with that and the lasses spend money like water on handbags, clothes, shoes and holidays. Having said that none are selfish, nor self-seeking, nor are they whingers. They will help anybody with anything and are kind and thoughtful. But they simply live for today and do not think about the future.

They all, without exception, voted Leave.

edit : None live in an area plagued with immigration problems, nor in an area bedevilled by yobs, or BNP. They all have qualifications so are not dim either. They are definitely not spoilt children of wealthy parents.

Sue

[Russethouse]

I know plenty of under thirties too, thanks. And my son is only 31

Many just have different priorities.....or do you think people make it up ? Ok, some don't but equally not every one has a private pension

I also have a friend reliant on a state pension and HB. She has already had to choose between heating and eating - just what would you like her to cut ?

[Judith]

Not everyone has a final salary pension, or if they do, it is only a small part and hardly worth counting.  Most of us moved around, and had to take what we could get.  Private pensions came in too late to be of much use to everyone.  Like many, my pension income is a mixture of final salary, private (hope it will come out ok on the night) and state ... nothing very glorious and I never had a very good salary to count on in the first place.

As RH says, we did what had to be done, and carried on. Youngsters today (and yes I have some in my family too) are making the best of what they can of the situation, and as ever, if prepared to work hard, take what options they are offered, and do without for a while .. they survive, grow and move on, much as we did.

I do know pensioners here who are not sure how they will cope if the exchange rate falls too far, and very much dependent on help from their family.  Swings and roundabout, as always.

[mint]

Now I feel greatly misunderstood.  I picked up on something Norman said and quoted from it.  Unless I have missed the point completely, all I said was that oldsters didn't have it any easier than today's youngsters.

Then I went on to agree that representative government meant that MPs should fulfill their job descriptions and get on with what needs to be done after proper debate, research, etc.  No need to be passing the buck to the general public.  Referendum this referendum that.  Have one on bringing back hanging and you'd get a resounding yes as well[:(]

And no, I don't think I feel any entitlement to anything.  And I don't believe I have ever said I should have this, that and the other.  On the contrary, I feel lucky to have my health, my modest means of existence, and all the little joyful things that are to be found in daily life.

I have just been away for a weekend, the first for 4 years as I couldn't leave my husband who had a serious illness.  I just thought I was very lucky to have the means, money and physical, to be able to walk in the mountains in the company of friends. 

No, I do not feel entitlement but I do feel very blessed and mostly perfectly content.

[YCCMB]

No, RH, I don't think people "make it up" but I do think they generalise, sweepingly. And that applies to both ends of the spectrum. But, as I said, if we're going to dish it out, then we have to be prepared to take it, too. You can't expect younger people to treat the older generation with deference or respect if all they ever hear is that same older generation telling them they're feckless wasters whose main ambition is to have the latest smartphone and that they should be grateful because their grandparents lived 84 to a shoebox and survived the blitz..

It's no different from generalising about "the French", or "the NHS"

My point in response to Norman's OP was, I thought, pretty clear. I was also very careful to use terms like "most pensioners" rather then simply "pensioners" because I'm only too aware that individual circumstances differ widely from the norm. A fact true of both sides of the age divide.

Much of the sorry mess that we now find ourselves in is a direct result of how individuals have chosen (or been conditioned) to perceive reality. And I do think that a lot of younger people will see the older generation as responsible for Brexit. At no point have I indicated that I agree with them, but I do think they've got a point.

Regrettably, I think we've all just witnessed that if you're told something often enough, loudly enough and it gets picked up by enough people, then many will believe it.

I'm aware that there are over 50's who voted remain: I'm one of them. I'm aware that some under 30's voted leave. That really doesn't change anything, any more than knowing that there are some immigrants claiming benefits....

[cajal]

Ah, young people.

Apparently lots of young people were sufficiently engaged with the democratic process to push a button on their iPad to give "Remain" a "Like" on Facebook, but couldn't be arrssed to find their nearest polling station, use the pencil provided (or for the conspiracy theorists - take their own pen along) and scrawl an "X" by "Remain".

Had they have done so this thread pobably wouldn't have evolved.

regards

cajal

[Doodle]

You are correct people of my age did start work at 15. I couldn't get out of school fast enough. At 15 I got an offer from the Co-op to train as a florist.

Do parents and children/teenagers sit around the table and have debates anymore? Doubt that many do as I'm sure if they did many old & young may have voted differently.

Mrs KG